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Man of Mystery

I opened my Betfair account on 22nd April 2003. I was one of the first subscribers to BetTrader and was a founding partner of JuiceStorm.com on 17th February 2007.

The JuiceStorm team built TradeHost for profitable automated trading and betting on Betfair in the UK, IE, AU and US horse racing markets. TradeHost Lite started in 2013 and is free forever.

Latest posts by Man of Mystery (see all)

• Traders – Retreat Really Is Not Surrender - November 23, 2024
• How Do You Know When Your Trade Is Wrong? - November 23, 2024
• The Value of Trading is More Than Money - November 23, 2024

Trading is a tough game. Any trader will tell you that.

Really tough

Without the proper tools, it can be almost impossible to succeed as a Betfair trader. But with so many forums, ebooks and trading products out there, where do you start?

It can be really confusing and you might feel like you are going through the spin cycle of a washing machine.

I’ve certainly been there. Albeit, a long time ago.

But not to worry. Let me show you what you need to equip yourself with to help keep you grounded, and on track.

Trading Community

“No man is an island.”
– John Donne

If you have ever been on any of the public trading forums out there, then you have probably lost some faith in humanity.

Yeah, it can get ugly.

The forum posts usually start off with the right intentions, but then things quickly degrade to name calling and third grade potty-mouth.

So then why would I tell you that you need a trading community?

Well, you need to choose the right community. A friendly and supportive community can make all the difference and see you through the tough times and help you develop.

As you might know by now, people in your everyday life might not support your trading dream. In fact, many will be downright against it.

Therefore a great trading community or even just one or two traders that you can consult with, can make all the difference.

If you haven’t read Napoleon Hill’s classic book Think and Grow Rich yet, you need to do it this week. In the book, he talks about a mastermind group.

This is a group of people who have a common goal and their participation in the group creates a synergy that makes all of the members better than they would be on their own.

So if at all possible, find a solid group of traders that you get along with and keep in contact with them regularly.

Trader Mindset

Next, you are going to have to upgrade your mindset to become a successful trader. You have probably heard this many times, but what does this actually mean?

Well, I’m going to break down the areas of mindset areas that you need to start focusing on right now, in order to give yourself the best shot at success.

Let’s get real, sometimes trading is going to suck. You are going to have a losing streak, you are going to be frustrated and you might want to give up at some point.

But the only way out is to push through.

If you start breaking down and not following your rules, then you are setting yourself up for revenge trading and a huge loss.

So find ways to develop your mental toughness. You can train for something outside of trading, like a sport or some sort of certification.

Here are some other suggestions…

An Abundance Mindset

This can be a tough one to overcome, especially if it has been drilled into you for your entire life.

Have your parents or friends ever told you that money doesn’t grow on trees, or that you need to work hard for your money?

Yeah me too.

Well, it wasn’t their fault.

That is the reality that they know and it has helped them get this far.

So when you start making some money by just clicking your mouse a few times, then your conditioning is going to start kicking in and you are probably going to sabotage yourself and find a way to give that money back.

It sounds weird if you have never experienced it, but if you have, then you know how it can creep up on you without any warning. The cause is very subconscious but the results are real.

But that doesn’t have to be your reality.

Do something every day that will increase your awareness of the abundance around you.

For example, here’s something that I noticed the other day. People here in Europe have easy access to tap water.

Not all of that tap water is completely drinkable, but we have access to it.

A lot of people complain about the poor quality of the drinking water in their area. That’s a scarcity mentality.

But what are bottled water companies doing?

They have taken that exact same water, cleaned it up and they sell it back to us for a profit. These companies make millions a year from something that is freely available to the rest of us.

Opportunity is all around you…if you are open to recognising it.

Forgiveness

This is something that I feel is one of the biggest negative feelings that you need to overcome, if you want to become a great trader. It is easy to beat ourselves to a pulp when we have a losing trade.

…or any of the dozens of things that we do as traders.

But that is only going to make things worse.

Remember though, it’s not your fault. As humans, we are programmed to look for what can go wrong and be prepared for it.

Therefore, we naturally look for what is wrong in a situation. We also seem to be particularly hard on ourselves.

This can be useful when we are trying to learn something, because we strive to get better. But more often than not, we take it too far and are too hard on ourselves, which leads to a downward spiral.

When we are able to forgive ourselves and see the situation more objectively, we can benefit from even a bad situation. We can learn what we did right, what we did wrong, and we will hopefully learn how to avoid that situation in the future.

Close your eyes for a second and take a couple of deep breaths. OK now imagine that you are in the movie Big. Or if you prefer something with more action, something like Face/Off.

Whatever the case, imagine exchanging bodies with your best friend. You are in their body and they are in yours.

Now imagine that you have just had a losing trade.

But just as you are about to beat yourself up again, you look in the mirror and see your friend’s face looking back at you. You are in their body, after all.

When you see their face, could you say the same things to that face that you would say to yourself? Would you call your friend stupid or berate them for always getting things wrong?

Of course not. You would encourage them to suck it up and move on.

At least I hope so.

So treat yourself like you would treat your best friend. With love, understanding and encouragement.

Conclusion

Having the right community and mindset are the keys to becoming a successful trader.

That’s it from me for this week. Have a great one.